Telos #1 (DC Comics)

The first issue of Telos, unfortunately, is disappointing and forgettable. Admittedly, I was not able to read all of Convergence when it was happening, but I thought the first issue of a series breaking out of an event would at least catch readers up on what transpired. This comic really doesn’t do that, or at least doesn’t do it very well. The entirety of this story is Telos attacking Brainiac after doing something to his family and then an exposition dump. It takes up the majority of the issue to get to the main point of the comic and to set up what will be first storyline as well. The audience doesn’t even get the chance to understand the weight of the situation, since Telos’ family is barely expanded upon other than being something he wants and Computo, this place Telos has to go to next issue, is just randomly introduced and feels like a generic world run by generically evil bad guys with huge amounts of power. Maybe it would help reading the event before this comic, but the issue could have at least given new readers a chance to care or get invested in our lead’s plight.

Jeff King’s writing is just alright here in the first issue. The pacing and story structure are fine, though the fact that the majority of the issue is a bare bones fight scene followed by an exposition fest leaves the issue feeling kind of hollow. The characterization is basic and there’s not a whole lot of depth to any of the characters shown, especially with Telos, who is just one-note through the entire issue—just angry and wanting to find this family. The dialogue and narration are okay, but there’s no line or moment that stands out in particular. Lastly, the ending is very obvious and easy to guess, so it doesn’t end up being a good twist or surprise in any way. The entire issue’s story and writing in general are just okay and don’t leave much of a first impression overall.

The strongest part of the comic is the artwork. Carlo Pagulayan provides the pencils, Jason Paz and Sean Parsons are the inkers, and Hi-Fi does the colors for the book, making a nice looking book from start to finish. At some points it’s kind of reminiscent of Ivan Reis’s style, which works rather well on a science fiction book like this one. The characters look good, the action is fluid and has motion to it, the layouts are easy to read and follow, and the sci-fi aesthetic looks vibrant thanks to the colors and inks. Sure, there are a lack of backgrounds at times and the style is more typical supehero-y, but it looks good overall. If Reis ever needed someone to fill in for him on one of his books, this would be a good replacement team.

Is It Good?

Telos #1 is a mediocre comic. There’s nothing wrong with it that is really bad or makes it hard to read, but there’s nothing really great to make you happy that you read it. Unless you were a big fan of the character from Convergence, I don’t see there being enough here worth recommending.